Assessment Of Gender Differences In Psychosocial Components In An After-school Sports-based Youth Development Program.

Many after-school programs encourage youth to engage in physical activity (PA) to improve mental and physical well-being. America SCORES Bay Area© is a sports-based youth development program that partners with local schools in low-income neighborhoods to implement programs integrating soccer, poetry, and service learning. PURPOSE: Psychosocial data were collected from SCORES city center sites to assess potential differences by sex. METHODS: The sample included 125 (43 females) grade school students, 5-12 years of age. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys were administered and psychosocial status evaluated via the Pediatric Quality of Life (QoL) Inventory Version 4.0 Short Form (PedsQL4.0), the Morano Pictorial Self-Efficacy Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale, and the Peds QL Child Present Functioning Visual Analog Scales (PedsQL™ VAS). RESULTS: Females were slightly older in this sample (p < 0.05). Males had higher mean scores on the QoL domains of Physical (p < 0.05), Emotional (p < 0.01), and Social Functioning (p < 0.01). Males also scored higher in Psychosocial Health (p < 0.01), and exhibited higher Physical Self-Efficacy and Physical Activity Enjoyment (p < 0.05) (See table). Males and females did not differ in QoL School Functioning or after-school affective assessment (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In this preliminary EMA survey with urban youth, males scored higher in three PEDS QoL domains. Males reported “not at all” more often than females when asked if they had problems with Physical, Emotional and Social functioning. Males also showed higher mean self-efficacy around PA than females and indicated higher levels of PA enjoyment. If these disparities persist across numerous cohorts, exploring strategies for improving female scores may prove worthwhile. Table 1. - Means and standard deviations of select psychosocial variables. Quality of Life Physical Activity Constructs n Age, yrs M ± SD Physical M ± SD Emotional M ± SD Social M ± SD Psychosocial Health M ± SD Physical Self-Efficacy M ± SD Physical Activity Enjoyment M ± SD Male 82 9.61 ± 1.3 84.23 ± 16.8 84.10 ± 21.3 74.38 ± 23.1 75.64 ± 17.5 3.30 ± 0.5 4.24 ± 0.7 Female 43 9.11 ± 1.6 76.84 ± 17.9 73.84 ± 22.5 60.91 ± 23.3 65.98 ± 17.1 3.09 ± 0.5 3.90 ± 0.9 Note: All tabled differences are significant, p < 0.05